Former Energy Minister Greg Barker joins board of The Climate Group

by Search Gate staff.
Published
Wed 13 May 2015 12:23

Ex-Energy Minister is supporting The Climate Group's 'RE100' scheme

Former Energy Minister Greg Barker has joined the board of trustees at The Climate Group, the international non-profit which supports Government and business leadership on climate change and the low carbon economy.

Mr Barker is the longest serving Energy Minister in a generation and led the transformation of the Conservative approach to the climate and ‘green’ issues, and accompanied David Cameron on his famous trip to the Arctic in 2006.

During his time at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, he oversaw the creation of the Green Investment Bank, and a massive expansion of decentralised energy including the deployment of 4GW of Solar PV and the launch of the world first Renewable Heat Incentive.

Commenting on the announcement, Mr Barker said: “The Climate Group is the recognised go-to organisation for government and business leaders on climate change. I hope to help The Climate Group build on its excellent track record of convening world leaders, and communicating the economic and business benefits of innovation and investment in the low carbon economy.

“I will be supporting The Climate Group’s ‘RE100’ initiative, which is helping the world’s biggest and most influential brands move to 100% renewable energy across their operations. I will also be involved in bringing more sub-national Governments into The Climate Group’s global States & Regions Alliance, in order to spread the learnings of low carbon policy innovation from its current members and how this is attracting inward investment.”

Mark Kenber, The Climate Group CEO, said: “We are delighted that Greg Barker has come on board. His wealth of experience and insights will prove invaluable in this very important year for the climate agenda. His record in government will also enable us to communicate across the spectrum about both the necessity and feasibility of a rapid shift to a strong and prosperous low carbon economy.

“He will support our continuing work to engage leaders and drive political ambition at the highest levels. He will also be key to helping us engage key policy-makers in areas where there are the great opportunities for technology scale-up, such as LED lighting, off-grid energy and corporate energy efficiency.”

Greg has represented the UK at all major International Climate negotiations since 2010 and has taken a lead role mobilising climate finance for developing countries. Mr Barker stood down from Government in July 2014, but then acted as The Prime Minister’s personal Climate Change Envoy up to last week’s General Election, when he retired from the House of Commons.

Led by The Climate Group, in partnership with CDP, RE100 supports major companies committed to 100% renewable power across their operations, with an aim of securing 100 of the world’s most influential businesses to commit to 100% renewable power within a specified timeline. 16 companies have now joined, including BT Group, Formula E, H&M;, IKEA, Mars, Nestlé, Philips and Swiss Re.

The Climate Group’s States & Regions Alliance represents some of the most economically powerful regions in the world. The 27 members collectively account for 313 million people, 11% of global GDP and 2.3 Gigatons CO2e.

The Climate Group is also invested in supporting the upscale of all outdoor street lighting to LED, or of equivalent efficiency, that will help reduce CO2 emissions and provide sustainable lighting to communities around the world. The 'Lightsavers' trial in 10 cities around the world showed compelling evidence that many commercially-available, outdoor LED products offer high quality light, durability, and significant electricity savings in the range of 50-70%.

Last year, The Climate Group announced the launch of a new consultation process to focus on accelerating the adoption of LED street lighting around the globe with lead partner, Phillips Lighting.

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